If
by Ice Girl on Fire
Summary: The Avengers saved New York but hundreds of lives were still lost in the battle. They took a break but they had to get back together again. To learn to be a team. To keep the world safe. They already had demons from their past but the skeletons in their closet were only just developing. They would have to face them at some point. Unfortunately for Tony, it had to be done as a team.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is my new story!

The timeline is sometime(probably a couple of months later)after the movie Avengers and this chapter is all I've written but I have at least half-assed plans for the coming chapters. But I am posting this so that I can see if it is good enough to continue or not and I am definitely gonna need your help with some ideas and inputs in it. Also, I should probably mention that there might be a lot of Hurt!Tony because I am just _that_ kinda person.

Disclaimer:I do not own the Avengers or the poem If(on which this story is kinda based on). They both belong to their respective owners.

* * *

CHAPTER-1

* * *

 _If you can keep your head when all about you_ _  
_ _Are losing theirs and blaming it on you_

* * *

The day started out pretty normal. The steadily brightening blue sky was tinged with a pinkish red near the horizon that was mostly blocked by tall skyscrapers and buildings that cluttered New York when Tony Stark closed the curtains of his bedroom after a long night in his workshop.

He had been working on his new designs of the Widow's Bites, Clint's explosive and poisonous arrows, trying to find the most suitable fibre for Bruce's stretchy pants and thinking about what to give Steve(probably an honest-to-America's flag-colored suit made from Cuben Fibre) and Thor(What the hell was he supposed to give a _frigging God of Thunder_?).

Tony shook his head to stop it from start racing again. After working non-stop for more than 48 hours he had finally managed to make his always-working-genius-head to slow down a little so that he could get some much-needed sleep. No good in letting his head race again. He stumbled to his bed tiredly with his hand shielding his eyes from the sunlight that filtered through his tinted windows.

After a muttered command to Jarvis to close the curtains he climbed onto his bed and pulled the sheets up to his neck. Then slowly slipped into a deep slumber soon after his head hit the pillow and wasn't disturbed for a long time—or as long as the world could keep itself from falling into trouble.

* * *

He came to his senses painfully slowly with his heart pounding in his chest in a very hurtful pace. He was breathing hard and drenched in sweat that made his hair stick to his forehead and his clothes to his body. As he tried to even out his fast breathing and the painful pounding of his heart, the nightmare that caused this reaction was already forgotten in his panic, he registered the pounding coming right outside his door.

Someone was trying to break it down and was soon going to be successful, by the looks of it. He scrambled out of the bed and stumbled, almost going down head first but was saved by his sheets. One of his hands and legs each were tangled so badly that it didn't let go until he struggled against it. Finally free of his slightly wet sheets, he scrambled to his feet and headed in the direction of the pounding, trying his best to ignore the way his head pounded along with it.

Through the insistent pounding in his head, he also noticed alarms blaring from the small speakers installed in the walls of the room.

He reached his hand to grasp the doorknob but it was too late. The hinges gave out with a mighty groan and the lock came free from the wall, bringing some plaster and pieces of the wall with it.

"Whoa!"

He skidded back to get out of the way as the door flew through the air and impaled the curtained windows on the other side of the room. Fortunately, he had ducked right on time and the flying object missed his precious—read, genius—head by only a few inches. All traces of sleep now completely swept away, he turned to the place where the door had been with wide eyes after a quick glance at the door that somehow stayed dangling from his impaled window with the help of the curtains.

Only to be strangled by a big—seriously, gigantic—hand that lifted him a few inches off the floor quite easily. It was someone very tall and very blond. As his eyes focused, he was more than a little taken aback to find that it was Thor. His hands instinctively clawed at Thor's hand, wanting to be freed. He gasped out urgently with some difficulty when the grip was loosened a tiny fraction.

"Use your words, buddy."

His voice sounded hoarse and dry to his own ears. His heart started to thump even more uncomfortably as the pounding in his head became more profound thanks to the alarms still blaring all around them.

"How dare you?!"

Thor snarled right in his face, rage clearly visible in his swirling blue eyes.

"What'd I do?"

Tony questioned urgently as panic started to cloud his mind. His thoughts started racing, trying to find what he'd done to upset the guy. He got so caught up in his anxious thoughts that he didn't notice the god's grip on his throat loosening further. As his feet touched the ground, he snapped out of it and breathed in a good amount of air and coughed a few times to clear his throat.

When he looked up, still panting, Thor was standing in the door-less entry to his room, hammer clutched in one hand and the other hand in a fist, the knuckles of both his hands white due to their tightness.

"Follow me."

Thor said in a clipped tone through gritted teeth, his eyes hard. And so he did. Thor raced through the halls and down the stairs—when the elevator seemed like it would take ages to come up—and burst into the Avengers floor's living room. Tony wordlessly followed with his heart and head still pounding in his ears. The sound of the alarms eventually died down as the door closed behind him.

The good captain paced the length of the room with frustration gracing his features. Clint and Natasha sat on the couch in the center of the room, looking for all the world like they were completely made out of stone. Bruce leaned on the arm of another smaller couch that was adjacent to the previous one with his hair standing up in all directions. Like he had been constantly running his fingers through them.

They all looked in Tony's direction as he and Thor made their way to where they all were. Steve looked straight angry and Bruce was frowning with a curious look in his eyes. Natasha just stared at him completely emotionless but for the way her eyes squinted slightly in a barely readable frown. Clint's eyes showed confusion and some amount of hostility toward Tony(but why, Tony didn't have a damn clue).

"Alright now, will someone explain to me what in the name of hell is going on?"

Tony asked a little defensively after clearing his throat and added before any of them could answer his question.

"Also, why did the god of thunder just try to strangle me to death with his bare hands?"

"Where the hell were you?! It's been like a couple of hours since the alarms went off and Fury had to finish debriefing without you."

"I was sleeping."

Tony replied a bit defensively.

"That's why _he_ strangled me?! Just cause I missed Mr Pirate on TV?!"

Tony asked in an exasperated tone while pointing at Thor, clearly enraged.

"No! That's not why. And just so you know, no one told him to _strangle_ you."

Steve answered leveling a pointed glare at Thor. The god in question just shrugged and replied in a clipped tone.

"I was overcome with rage. If it weren't for his tardiness, such a dire situation could have been avoided."

"Is someone even planning on explaining to me what the freaking hell is going on?"

Tony bit out his teeth loudly.

Steve turned to him with a critical look in his eyes and opened his mouth.

As Tony glared at him, the sound of shattering glass erupted from the glass windows that covered one side of the room and everyone(except Tony)turned toward the source of the sound with shock written on their faces.

Quite suddenly all the color leached out of Tony's already pale face and he sucked in a sharp breath.

* * *

So how was it?

I need input, guys. Please tell me any thoughts you have on this chapter so that I can write the story accordingly. Also, I haven't started other chapters so unless I get any response I won't continue further. I warmly welcome any plot ideas or detail pointers or something like that.

All you have to do is hit that 'review' button and say a few words about your thoughts on this chapter. I would like to warn you though that if you say something too critical and cold like 'This sucked worse than a leach', I might get upset and hit the delete for this story.

Now that the explaining is all done, Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi there!

Firstly,

Criminal-Mindset, Fallen Angelsof221b, suteko1, huge sg1 fan, Toa Aerrow, MerlinofGryffindor, Lavenderstitches, Endleaf, FanGirlForever19, OlympiaDaPhne, shadowhuntz3rs, TheTryHard8, VampireLover9 and BeautifullyDamagedSimplyMe! You guys are all awesome! Thank you so much for the follows and favs!

And all those who reviewed, thanks soo much guys! You all really got my brain working even though I had exams.

And as I couldn't PM you,

Guest: I'm super happy you liked my story! Keep reading!(And reviewing) ;D

So here you go guys...posting Chapter-2...with anticipation...

* * *

CHAPTER-2

* * *

 _If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,  
But make allowance for their doubting too._

* * *

 _Steve turned to him with a critical look in his eyes and opened his mouth._

 _As Tony glared at him, the sound of shattering glass erupted from the glass windows that covered one side of the room and everyone(except Tony)turned toward the source of the sound with shock written on their faces._

 _Quite suddenly all the color leached out of Tony's already pale face and he sucked in a sharp breath._

* * *

Steve opened his mouth to reply but that was when a _whooshing_ sound registered in his mind. He started to turn towards the source and was rewarded with the sound of shattering glass. Something black rushed through the air but he didn't quite see where it landed.

Bruce, Clint and Natasha were all up and about their feet in no time at all. Bruce backed away from the glass wall that now had a jagged circle with a diameter of about five feet cut into it. His hands were clasped together nervously in front of him as he put a safe distance between him and the glass wall.

Natasha and Clint both moved toward the glass wall with Thor and Steve flanking them to examine the glass and ascertain where the object that put a hole in the glass came from.

Clint's eyes caught a black figure on the roof of a building at least half a kilometer away but the figure ducked down and was gone as soon as he saw it.

After examining the other buildings surrounding it but finding that there was nothing else that looked suspicious he swiftly turned to Natasha and held eye contact for the smallest of seconds then subtly exchanged a nod with her.

They had both seen the figure but knew that they won't be able to catch the person now. He would definitely be gone by the time they got there.

Storing that information away for later examination, they both turned about to find where the object that had come through the glass had landed.

* * *

Tony slowly looked down towards the arc reactor in his chest with growing anticipation. It still glowed as blueish-white as ever. But what bothered him was something entirely different. Something else that was attached to his body.

He could sense a sharp pressure that originated from the spot where the back of his neck and back met and there was the feel of cold metal pressed against his skin.

The complex metal contraption had latched onto a spot on his back and its arms extended to curl around his chest and shoulders to reach the arc reactor. It had four arms in total and quite snugly fit his lean form. Lifting his shirt, he found that a part of the device now cradled the outline of the arc reactor.

"Shit."

He breathed out shakily. That was when he turned toward the shattered window, only to find all the other Avengers staring at him with various emotions splayed on their faces.

"Just who the fucking hell did I manage to piss off so much?"

He gasped out and then promptly blacked out.

* * *

The four Avengers(except Bruce—who was facing Tony's back—and Tony himself, of course)all turned to face the mechanic who hadn't moved through out this whole incident and heard the choked question drift out of his mouth.

" _Just who the fucking hell did I manage to piss off so much?_ "

Only to witness the sight of the obnoxious but alarmingly pale billionaire crumpling to the floor like a sack of heavy potatoes.

" _Tony!_ "

Bruce was instantly at Tony's side, turning him over onto his back and checking his wrist for a pulse. For a pulse that was not there. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he quickly reached out his hand to the mechanic's neck. No pulse again.

And that was when he saw the device that clung to Tony. Hurriedly peeling Tony's shirt off, Bruce took a good look at the device. He turned Tony onto his side to see where the device ended on his back then pressed a hand to the round base that was attached to his back.

The base gave a soft _click_ as Bruce's hands accidentally brushed a tiny button. Bruce hastily withdrew his hand but still felt something electric surge through his hands as he was thrown back a couple of feet to collide against the smaller couch's back.

Tony was violently half-jerked into the air one second and was gasping like a fish almost the very next second. He was still on his side. His hands stayed pressed against the arc reactor as he panted raggedly with a wild look in his eyes.

Bruce let out a groan from where he was. Natasha almost took a step back, thinking that the Hulk was about to be unleashed, but thankfully soft brown eyes blinked up at her. She immediately descended on him like a hawk, checking his pulse and taking a look at his hands.

"I'm okay. How's Tony?"

Bruce said a bit dazedly and tried getting up to move towards Tony. She pushed him back down and held up his hand for him to look at.

"You have a scorch mark. It's small but you should probably wash it. I'll see how Stark is."

Bruce nodded at the mark just as it started to recede from his skin.

"It's okay now. See."

Natasha just gave him a raised eyebrow and gave him a hand to stand up. When Natasha turned back Stark was resting his weight on one arm in his attempt to get up. Steve sat beside him in a crouch. Thor and Clint watched from their stand beside them.

"What the hell did you get yourself into this time, Stark?"

Natasha asked as she and Bruce also came to stand beside him. Tony's silence brought a slight frown to Natasha's face. Bruce instantly crouched and grabbed Tony's hand to check his pulse and only let it go when he was sure the pulse was almost normal.

"Tony?"

Bruce questioned to see how he would respond. Tony just looked up at him with the panic still lurking a tiny bit in his eyes.

"Yeah?"

He breathed out shakily.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I got roasted. This has seriously gotta be one of the most shittiest days of my whole life."

Tony answered as he sat up slowly with his hands on the floor beside him.

"Getting electrocuted would do that to you."

Clint muttered quietly.

Tony continued talking dryly, looking down at his chest where the mysterious device still rested.

"Seriously, if you guys just wanted to see me naked you could have just asked, you know."

Bruce interrupted him before he could continue.

"I asked you how do you feel? Tony?"

Tony just shrugged.

"Pretty much the same as ever except for this _thing_."

He gestured to the device with a slight grimace.

"It seems that he is alright but what is that contraption attached to him? We also have urgent business to attend to. Will he be able?"

Thor suddenly boomed out of nowhere.

"I don't know. We need to get it off. This thing could be doing a number of things to him...But he seems okay for now."

Bruce answered Thor with a critical eye still trained on Tony, looking for any sign of injury or discomfort on his face. Specifically, his eyes as they were the most expressive. As Thor boomed again about how they should get going to somewhere right away, Bruce almost didn't hear the whispered murmur that escaped Tony.

" _The reactor...it's..."_

"What's wrong with the reactor, Tony?"

Bruce asked Tony who was looking at said object with a frown on his face.

"It's kinda hot."

Tony said but his eyes widened even as he said it and he instantly surged to his feet, or at least tried to. If it weren't for Steve and Bruce catching him he would have met the floor quite rashly.

"What's wrong, Tony? We won't know unless you tell us."

Bruce asked worriedly. Tony stumbled a bit blinking his dazed eyes but still tugged at Bruce's shirt as he started stumbling in the direction of the elevator.

"Come on, Bruce...The reactor's about to…...drain out and I need help….changing it. Come on!"

Tony said breathing heavily and still tugging on a frozen Bruce.

"Okay. I'm coming."

Bruce said and gave Steve a pointed look. Steve nodded and started giving orders in his trademark Cap-voice.

"Alright everyone, since Tony is...incapacitated and Bruce wants to take care of him. We have no choice but to leave them behind. The four of us leave within an hour. Get your things and be at the roof. The quinjet will be waiting for us."

Natasha and Clint nodded then both vanished into the elevator along with Tony and Bruce. Thor stormed to the kitchen(to do what, God only knows-but if I had to guess I'd say he wanted to have some pop tarts).

Steve let out a sigh and slowly walked to the door that lead to the stairs and started descending the steps. Call him old-fashioned if you want but he really just needed some space to breathe with everything that was going on and being inside that metal box called an elevator definitely would not get him that.

* * *

So how was it? Were there any spelling or grammatical mistakes? Any doubts? Just PM me! Or drop a review.

I needed to tell you guys that I will try to post twice every month from now on but if I got motivated and finished the chapters fast then I just might post faster. So please don't say I didn't warn you. But if you have any questions or views...just post a review or PM me. Thanks for your support, guys!

This couldn't have happened without your wonderful feedback!

See ya then! :)


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